Do you know what zoopharmacognosy means? I didn’t, until recently. My friend Sarah Kinson told me: “Zoopharmacognosy is a behavioural science based on the observational research of animals self medicating in the wild. The term refers to the process by which animals self-medicate as they naturally forage plants for their essential oils, clay, algae and other natural remedies in the wild. It is this innate ability that allows them to be in control of their own health and prevent disease.”

So now you know, too. Sarah has trained with Caroline Ingraham and now has the letters IAZ and MICHT after her name.

I recently helped Sarah set up her blog site – it’s here – where you can read about her exploits on Jersey, in the zoo, treating a pair of Andean bears. And you can read all about these majestic animals here. As seems to be typical in this day and age, Andean bears are yet another endangered species.

DH52 was to be our last issue as editors, despite our original intention to be in post for a long run. This is because I found myself chairing the 2009 FantasyCon, and I decided that I couldn’t both edit DH and run a convention without adversely affecting either activity. Nevertheless, I popped back into the DH seat after it, New Horizons and Prism had been merged into the BFS Journal. More on this in a later post.

I mustn't forget to thank Joel Lane for selecting and editing the poems for my three issues of DH.

Meanwhile, the 2008 FantasyCon was held on 19-21 September, once again in the Britannia Hotel in Nottingham. The Guests of Honour were James Barclay, Christopher Golden and Dave McKean, with Christopher Fowler in the role of Master of Ceremonies.

19 February 2012

Issue 51 of Dark Horizons (again co-edited with Jan Edwards) appeared towards the end of 2007. The cover was a photograph taken and altered by a member of a local photographic society. Don Barker had created several fabulous Photoshopped images that were – it seemed to me – not fully embraced by many of the typically more conservative society members. Pity.

Anyway, contents wise, DH51 included a brief piece by H P Lovecraft! This was the vignette’s first UK publication.

And between DH’s covers:

What the Moon Brings - H P Lovecraft (introduced by Stephen Jones)

By Right of the Stars - Anne Gay

Roots of the Editor: Ellen Datlow - Jan Edwards *

In His Charge - Nicki Robson

Decayed Gentility - Marion Pitman (v)

The Invisible Prince - David Sutton*

The Perils of Pentavir - Allen Ashley

The Dullitch Assassins - David Lee Stone

Father’s Day - David Turnball

That was My Veil - Ian Hunter (v)

The Children of Monte Rosa - Reggie Oliver

(v) = verse, * = non-fiction

David Sutton’s article was on the Irish fantasist J Sheridan Le Fanu. In the notes, Sutton said he began writing the piece in the 1970s for a book project that didn’t see completion.

18 February 2012

After being away from BFS activities for some years, I was asked to once again edit Dark Horizon. So in spring 2007 issue 50 appeared, edited by Jan Edwards and yours truly. Of course, this being issue 50 we had to celebrate and so asked three past editors to help mark the moment: David Sutton, Debbie Bennett and Mike Chinn.

I note from the editorial that DH50 was a few months late, and this was blamed on my daughter’s broken ankle – she snapped the bones on the first day of a short “break” in Amsterdam. Jan and I had to drive up to Liverpool to collect her from the airport. It was a night of bad – seriously bad – storms. It took us three or four hours to drive 50 miles up the M6!

And to complete the circle: as I type this blog post I am recovering from a broken ankle. Like my daughter, I have a plate holding bones together. But I broke my bones in the less romantic city of Stoke-on-Trent.

My Heart Laid Bare: The Work and Art of Joyce Carol Oates – Robert Parkinson *

Apoca ca lypse – Joy ce Car ol O a te s

Fantasycon GoH Speech – Juliet McKenna *

The Ice Game – Sue Anderson

Where the Dead Go – Ian Hunter (v)

Black Angel: John Connolly Interview – Marie O’Regan *

The Woman with the Hair – Ian Hunter

The Phoenix of Fantasy – David Lee Stone *

Murdoch Celeste – Allen Ashley

(v) = verse, * = non-fiction

The colour cover painting was by Anne Sudworth. Internal artwork was by Bob Covington, Stephen Jones and Peter Coleborn.

That year’s FantasyCon was held in Nottingham, over the weekend 21-23 September. The Guests of Honour were Terry Brooks, Michael Marshall Smith and Stephen Jones. Peter Crowther was the Master of Ceremonies. The FantasyCon 2007 Programme Book was edited by … Peter Coleborn (I’ll post details later).

In 1992 the British Fantasy Society decided, all of a sudden, to produce a one-off special for that year’s British Fantasy Convention (FantasyCon XVII). Birthday by Mark Morris was a slim booklet (16 pages plus cover). It was included as part of the BFS Booklet Series, number 18, and sold for £1.50 or $3.00. The cover artwork was by Jim Pitts.

Mark signed my copy thus: “… many thanks for getting this publication out in record time!” Maybe I was finding small press production much easier because I don’t recall being under any kind of pressure, despite the short notice.